Today was a long day on the bus, traveling from site to site. What is very clear to me is that the people here do not need missionaries to show them God's love. In fact, they exude God's love in everything they say and do. They are gracious and welcoming, loving and kind. Many of the children will grab your hand or climb into your lap for a hug. They smile and giggle and are grateful beyond measure. Not one person who invited us into her home apologized for its modesty or mess, like we so often do. They simply welcomed us with open arms. There's a real lesson to be learned there.
Our first stop today was Argelia Alta, a very poor neighborhood in south Quito. Here, we visited Remanso de Amor (Haven of Love), a facility for kids to receive meals and an education. It also serves as a church, medical center, trade school, and high school. The model here is very different than other E=H sites. Most sites receive a $32 allowance to send a child to a local school. This $32 covers their uniform and books, without which they aren't allowed to even enter the building. Because Remanso de Amor is actually the school, the cost per child is $107, so instead of paying a full scholarship, E=H supports 20 percent of a child's education here.
While here, we toured this multistory building and saw their classrooms, which are desperately in need of new computers and lab equipment for science classes. The top two stories are incomplete, but the view from the roof is amazing.
One interesting thing here was that part of the building was constructed around a shipping container that had once been filled with shoeboxes from Samaritan's Purse.
We also played soccer and a game that Roberto led. He called out words --- horse, chair, bride -- in Spanish and teams of two had to quickly jump into the right position. (This is bride below.) Pairs were eliminated one at a time as they chose the wrong position. Our teammates Ken and Elizabeth (far right) came in second place. Felicidades, gringos!
Next, we took about a 20-minute bus ride to have lunch at a mall. In such a short distance, the difference is astounding. To go from such poverty to a nice mall that you could easily find in America is shocking.
We shopped at a Walmart-like store called MegaMart, buying groceries to take home: tea, candies, cookies, and hot sauce. The prices are interesting: a box of cookies might be less than $2 while Maybelline Great Lash mascara is $16 (around $5 in the United States). Import taxes are astronomical, so products from other countries are very expensive.
Dios es Amor
We continued on to Dios es Amor (God is Love), a mission church that is an E=H ministry site where 35 kids get scholarships to attend school. Here, we had a birthday party to celebrate all of the kids' birthdays. We had delicious cake and played games together. For those of you who were at Holy Cross when Cameron and Roberto came, you'll recall Roberto's sermon about Giovanni. Here he is on the front row in the blue sweater (beside the girl in purple).
When this rambunctious little boy attended public school at age 5, he got beat up and was afraid to go back. He also has a heart condition. After going to school with him and trying to ease his anxiety, his mom opted to keep him home. So at age 5, it seemed that Giovanni was destined for the same path in life that both of his parents had taken: zero education. Then an E=H sponsor came forward and offered to pay for private school, which costs about $80 a month. Now Giovanni is thriving in school. In fact, while we were there, he received an award for being one of the best students at Dios es Amor.
In this neighborhood, we visited three homes. The home I went to was precariously perched on the side of the mountain. With a dirt floor and a tin roof, it is shocking that anyone lives here. The matriarch of the family (in the center beside our teammate Brian) works three jobs: scavenging for recyclables, cleaning homes, and doing laundry. Four kids live here, two of whom receive E=H scholarships: Dillon (in the blue and yellow jacket) and Grace (far left in the white shirt). Grace was thrilled to receive the home visit bag we brought and showed us that she still had a body spray and some construction paper from the sponsors who visited her a year ago.
Beside their home was the remains of a home that had burned down a few months ago. The homes here are often hard-packed dirt floors, cinder block walls, and a tin roof. So I asked how the home burned down. The lady explained to me that the electrical wires coming into the house are draped around wooden beams, and people tend to hang their laundry from these beams. The wires are visible and not at all insulated. One bad wire and one shirt hanging from it and the home goes up in flames. There wasn't much left except for a brick oven. A mom and two girls still live there, but because the mom was away working in a market, the woman we visited had taken in the two girls. As we prayed before leaving the home, Brian prayed, "the heart of Christ is living here." So much truth to that. The spirit of love and compassion here is amazing and inspiring.
We walked back to Dios es Amor. Before we left, the children called us each up one by one to gave us a small painting with our name on it.
Emaus
It was wonderful to come back to this Episcopal church, where we spent a day at the end of July painting the inside and outside of the church and having a carnival. Today, we were welcomed by Madre Nancy and several other church leaders.
Then we split into two groups to visit homes. The home I went to was about a 15-minute bus ride away. Teresa, an Emaus youth leader (back row with her arms around her mom) lives here with her mom, sister, and several children. Thanks to an E=H scholarship, Teresa has graduated from high school.
She was very happy to have us in her home and explained to us that Madre Lourdes, who used to work at Emaus, had helped her get funds to add a tin roof so they now have a dry place to live. Teresa worked for many years in a brick factory, making bricks by hand. However, her employer was not paying fair wages, and after a lawsuit with Lourdes help, Teresa got a land settlement and now does not have to pay rent. However, she lives in fear that the land deed won't hold up and the government will take back her land.
When invited the family back on the bus with us and returned to Emaus, where we watched the children dance. They invited us to dance with them -- for a long time. ;-) They cooked Andes mountain corn for us, served with cheese and aji (hot sauce). Then they called each of us up by name and gave us an Ecuadorian bag and a candy bar. As we said our goodbyes, they gave us dessert: a type of fried dough with cane sugar syrup. Delicious!
We ended the day with Italian pizza and a debrief back at the hostel.
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